Tag Archives: oka

I have finally amassed enough money in my United Travel Bank Gift Registry to finally get round trip for both of us to and from Chicago. Now before you dump any money into this using your 3 AmEx Platinum Cards (MB, Reg, Biz $200 each), or Premier Rewards Gold ($100) check here to make sure its still auto reimbursed. Because one day they will fix the glitch and your stuck with non reimbursed charges.

Better than a toaster

There are so many restrictions on using these travel bank points. If any segment is on a partner airline you can’t use the bank at all! So for this trip I had to book a separate Experience Japan round trip OKA to NRT ($98 a segment) on a different ANA itinerary. I did this right after I booked my $1,200 ticket on United from NRT to ORD with my Travel Bank and used the ticket number to be eligible.

Because of the strictness, next year, I might start using the MPX loophole for Amazon Credit as it will be much harder for international travel with my studies. Again, if it dries up please don’t call up to AmEx and complain. I just let the auto reimburse robot give me that statement credit without question. I know one day its gonna dry up, so be it, since the annual fees were waived anyways.

Since I got this free flight home and back, I went ahead and applied for a Business First Upgrade for the return segment for $600 and 30k miles per ticket. In less than 12 hours my upgrade was confirmed! Essentially I got Business first for $600 and the sign up bonus on my United Explorer Card, netting me a sweet 1,200 MP miles per ticket by putting it on my United Club Credit card.

Using seat guru as my guide I was able to get a nice seat! I will have a report soon enough regarding the value of such a redemption. Just for comparison these tickets booked alone would cost $3,017 each one way!

I think we got the upgrade right away due to our *A Silver and Gold Status, but I think its because no one want to fly on a Tuesday. Think about taking your leave over the weekdays, no lines anywhere! However I wonder if I would be more comfortable in First Class: